Chapter 7
SEVEN
Nina
We shuffle forward in the line, huddled together as we try to keep warm. Melders Bar is bursting at the seams tonight. Bodies spill out onto the street as the queue wraps around the side of the building. Thankfully, it’s moving quickly, and we are nearly at the entrance.
“He better be as hot as I remember, Nina. It’s flipping freezing out here tonight,” Lucy complains.
“Umm, I didn’t want to come here tonight. This is all on you, girls. I was happy going to The Pearl.”
A large group of men step from the club, and relief fills me when the bouncer allows us and the couple in front to step inside. The warmth of the club blankets me the moment we cross the threshold, instantly calming my body.
“Drinks first,” Lucy says. “And keep an eye out for Mase! We need to find him first.”
I link arms with my two best friends, rolling my eyes. “Screw him. Let’s have some fun instead!”
We haven’t been to Melders Bar before, always being put off by the wait to even contemplate entertaining the fifty-pound admission charge. It’s one of the hottest places in the city to party—but it’s just a club, and I will now be living off of noodles for the remainder of the week.
“So this is where all the classy girls go,” Megan says with a smirk, well aware that we aren’t that.
The bar is set out on two levels, and we’ve entered the club from the top one.
A bar runs around the room in a U shape, with plush velvet seats and tables scattered throughout the area.
There is a large opening at the centre, and we walk over to the railings, looking down at the crowd of people dancing below.
“This place is incredible. Let’s get a drink and hit the dance floor,” Lucy shouts over the music.
My gaze involuntarily scans the entire top floor, trying to seek out Mason, but it’s such an immense space, and I doubt I could find him amongst all these people. We see a spot at the bar and slide in, ordering nine shots and a vodka cranberry chaser to take with us.
“Cheers, bitches,” Megan smiles.
We down our shots one after another, all of us struggling by the third. Tiesto’s “Wasted” starts to blare through the speakers, and the girls squeal as they slam down their shot glasses. I grab their hands, pulling them to the top of the steps that lead to the dance floor.
I’m about to take the first step when my eyes lift, locking on Charlie’s. He stands at the opposite side of the opening—close to where we stood at the bar moments ago. His forearms rest against the railing with his glass hung leisurely from the tips of his fingers.
Holy shit. I forgot how hot they all are.
Mason and Elliot stand off to the side, engaged in a conversation with a man I haven’t seen before. I quickly lift my finger to my lips and plead with my eyes at Charlie.
He shakes his head, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Please,” I mouth.
He dips his head in the direction the girls went, silently telling me to go. I hurry down the stairs and onto the dance floor, wondering how long it will be before he finds me.
Mase
We ended up at Melders tonight—not that it was our intention. Elliot had a phone call from Cece that had Vinny bringing us here. Cece is a model Elliot met a few years back and who he now meets up with whenever she’s in London.
The lack of privacy at Melders is one reason I hate it so much. Too many people know me here. When I finish work for the week, I want to shut off from it, not come somewhere like this, where people only want to talk to you because of the size of your wallet.
“Lowell,” Charlie says with a nod, summoning me. I walk to the railing and stand beside him. He smiles, then looks down at the dance floor.
I go to ask what, but the moment I glance at the dance floor, I see her.
In a sea of people that I can barely make out, she shines like a light.
Does she have this pull on everyone, or is it just me?
I frown as I watch her. She is breathtaking to watch.
I know she’s a dancer, but this is different.
She is so immersed in the song, her body so in tune with the music, she seems at one with it.
Lance and Elliot step up beside us to see what’s caught our attention.
Elliot elbows me. “Hey, isn’t that Pixie?”
“Where? Which one?” Sullivan asks.
“Brunette, tight white dress. Fuck, Mase, please tell me you are on that!” Elliot says, not taking his eyes off her.
“Another money-hungry bitch attaching herself for your money?” Lance pops a brow in question and laughs, taking a swig of beer.
“Shut the fuck up,” I deadpan. If he wasn’t my best friend, I wouldn’t be tolerating his shit.
Charlie stands looking out at the girls, not saying a word, already in protective mode. Poor fucker is warped. “I’m going to take a piss,” I say, walking in the direction of the dance floor.
“Good luck, mate. Hey, if she won’t hold your cock I’m sure Lancey will,” Elliot says, clasping Lance on the shoulder with all the force I’d put behind the punch.
I stand off to the side of the dance floor, unable to take my eyes off her. Her delicate hands glide over her body, moving from her thighs to her hips and then to her perfectly round tits. Men and women stop to watch her—it’s not just me. She has us all captivated.
She steals a moment lifting a drink to her lips, and it has my body moving forward on impulse.
I slide up behind her, my hand smoothing across her stomach and sprawling out over her ribs, pulling her flush against me.
My face instantly goes to her neck, which is blanketed in her thick hair.
I inhale deeply as my other hand takes hold of the drink at her lips.
She doesn’t flinch. She knew I was watching her, and she wanted me to see.
“I promised you when you were sober,” I whisper into her ear, taking the lobe between my teeth.
She shivers, sighing heavily as her body relaxes into mine. She lets me take her drink, her head falling to my chest as she looks up over her shoulder at me. Our noses touch, our mouths only an inch apart. “I don’t know how much I will be able to tolerate tonight, Nina.”
“Tolerate what, Mase?” she hums, bringing her lips even closer.
“This,” I say, running my hands up her waist. I bend my knees, grinding her ass onto my dick.
“Then don’t.” She starts to move her body to the music, my control slipping further from my grasp with every roll of her hips.
I pass her drink off to some random girl who is standing staring at us, and she takes it without question.
Fucking weirdo. Nina notices and goes to step away from me, but I grasp her before she is out of reach, pulling her back to me; she throws her head back over my shoulder, laughing.
I bet the boys are fucking loving this. “I’m here with the girls, but if you’re a good boy, I will let you take me home later,” she promises.
“How about I take you home right now?” I lean in, sucking on the underside of her jaw, my arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
“Later.” She looks up at me. “I promise when I’m sober,” she says, pulling at my arms and stepping from my hold. She grabs the hand of the girl who is still standing staring at us, and then they skirt off through the crowded dance floor.
Leaving me alone and with a raging hard-on.
Nina
I slam the door to the cubicle, spinning to face the girls. “I’m so getting laid tonight. Is that okay, or does it make me a slut? I hardly know the guy.” I cringe, running my palms down over my dress.
“Are you kidding? You’d be a fucking idiot not to.” Lucy laughs as she sits to pee.
“Nina, you have to sleep with this man. I’m hot for it just watching the two of you,” Megan says, handing Luce the loo roll.
“Girls, he’s intense. I don’t think I could sleep with him and then just walk away. You saw how I was after last week, and I wouldn’t say he’s the type to settle down anytime soon.”
“Then you make sure you shag his brains out!” Megan cheers, switching spots with Lucy so she can pee.
“Shag? Megs, nobody fucking says that.” I laugh.
A hand raps on the cubicle door. “Hurry up in there!”
“Fuck off,” we all say in unison.
“Just don’t kiss him. That always works for me.” Lucy shrugs. “Keep it impersonal.”
“Ugh, don’t. I think I could come from his kiss alone. Kissing is an absolute must.”
“No,” she scolds. “No kissing. You can do this. You’re a strong independent woman, and you will take all the orgasms you can get from this man and then leave the motherfucker wanting more. You will not kiss him, got it?”
“I’ll try?” I smile.
“You got this, girl,” Megan says, standing then straightening out her dress.
We leave the toilets and head straight for the bar. “Three vodka cranberries, please,” I say, holding up three fingers in case he doesn’t hear me over the music.
The barman frowns, looking between the three of us. “Just a moment, please.” He backs away, giving me another once-over before whispering something to the suit at the end of the bar.
He returns a few seconds later. “I’m sorry, darling, I can’t serve you,” he cringes.
“What! Why? I have ID,” I say, riffling through my clutch.
“It’s not that. We’ve been told to no longer serve you this evening.” He shrugs apologetically, moving on to serve the next person in the queue.
What the hell?
I turn to the girls to find them both as surprised as I am. We aren’t even drunk. I look past the girls towards the railings where Mason stood earlier. He is sitting in one of the tall wingback chairs, his eyes fixed firmly on me, and I just know.
I start towards him, not stopping until I’m directly in front of him. I ignore the other men sitting around the table, my focus solely on Mason. I take his glass, the golden liquid sloshing onto my hand as I rip it from his grasp.
I tip my head back and down it in one.
He smiles as I struggle to keep my eyes from watering. “That’s your last one,” he says, pulling me down and onto his lap.
“Pixie, it’s good to see you again.”
I turn to see Elliot sitting to our right. He nods his head at me in greeting.